Open Source Educational Initiatives to Improve Awareness of Rabies Prevention

Rabies is the deadliest infectious disease known to humans and animals and yet is almost always preventable even after an exposure has occurred. The lack of educational awareness is a major reason why over 55,000 people die of the disease every year. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control, in association with international partners in the field of public health, initiated new educational initiatives aimed at increasing global awareness for those living at daily risk of exposure to rabies. Three of the open source educational initiatives are described in this chapter, including: World Rabies Day; the establishment of a freely accessible scientifically accurate education bank; and hosting global webinars that connect public health experts interested in reducing the burden of rabies in their regions.

Creating a Digital Learning Community for Undergraduate Minority Science Majors

Over the last three-decades, educators and policymakers have been alarmed about the state of American education and whether the Unites States can continue to lead the world in innovation. At risk is the performance of our students and their ability to be competitive in today’s increasingly complex and challenging global environment. Clearly, while the importance of education in a global society vis-à-vis the welfare of a nation needs no defense, we must understand through real life experiences how complexity and competitiveness inform the global world.

Creating a Video Based Educational Game: A How-To Guide

Although the subject of educational games has become a massive area of study, this chapter will present a small overview of what an instructor/facilitator should know and comprehend so as to start to put together an educational game. Through understanding of the components, structure, and utilization of various resources (such as open-source materials), the creation of an educational game is achievable to all.

Facilitating the Integration of Open Educational Courses

The open educational movement is primarily about facilitating a philosophical view: the idea that universal access to quality education should be a global priority. Open educational courses are byproducts of the implementation of this philosophy. Unfortunately, the principles that are fueling the open educational movement are in direct opposition to the typical culture found in higher education institutions in the United States. The lack of awareness of or indifference to these cultural differences can hinder the integration of open educational resources. Successful integration of open educational courses into degreed programs requires an acknowledgement of the cultural dissonance that may result as well as a systematic plan for addressing it. This chapter highlights some of these cultural differences and outlines a framework for addressing them.

Open Source Approach to Contemporary Research

As the open source paradigm is influencing the modern economic world, an increasing number of scientific disciplines use the open working model in knowledge production process. The contemporary research field requires a new shift towards the constantly evolving digital age where collaboration and exchange of information is growing. The shift from traditional research models to open science may be the starting point for scientific innovation. This work presents the case of open scientific research as an analogy to the open source software movement and uses a case study from the Geo-Information technology sector.

The Web 2.0 Mandate for a Transition from Webmaster to Wiki Master

This chapter focuses on the how the advent of Web 2.0 has influenced the role of webmaster and given rise to the wiki master. In section 1, the author provides an overview of the role of webmaster and how a Web 2.0 mindset began to exert an influence on the duties of this individual. The section concludes with the rise of collaborative Web technologies, specifically Wikis. Section 2 describes the evolution of the wiki master and provides a distinction from its predecessor. The specific roles of a wiki master are described in detail here. Section 3 provides a case study-type overview of the wiki master at ELATEwiki.org. Section 4 provides more detail by looking a typical day in the life of the wiki master at ELATEwiki. Conclusive remarks are provided in the final section of this chapter.

Open Source for Higher Conventional and Open Education in India

Distance Education in India has come a long way since the launch of correspondence courses in 1962 at the Delhi University. There have been many changes over the period of time, and thus, a transition was observed from print based correspondence courses to media supported distance education. With the advent of technology, expansion of telephone network, and lowering of tariff, there has been expansion of e-learning services, web based education, and mobile learning. Currently there are around 600 conventional (face-to-face) universities in India serving around 1.2 billion students. Starting with one Open University in 1982, now we have 15 open universities. There are single mode and dual mode distance education institutions. These provide instructions from print based to technology enabled means. All these developments transformed the teaching learning. Many of the institutions followed Open Educational Resources and Open Source movement. Reasons are varied for adopting open source. With the purpose to reduce the costs on software development, freedom to improve the software and freedom to redistribute to help neighbours has made individuals, institutions, and governments support open source. In this chapter, the author examines some of the initiatives of Open Source in the field of higher, open and distance education in India.

Virtualized Open Source Networking Lab

This chapter considers a virtualized open source networking lab to support Web based IT education. It discusses the difficulties in teaching networking related IT courses online. The discussion leads to the solution of virtualized open source technology. The chapter also examines some strategies in developing an open source virtual networking lab for hands-on practice in networking related IT courses. It then presents a case study on the use of an open source virtual networking lab in e-learning.

Analyzing the Competitive Dynamics in Open-Source Publishing Using Game Theory

Using a game theory model to analyze whether a content developer should pursue publishing with an open-source or proprietary publisher, this work describes a strategy for those content developers working in higher education in terms of an articulated strategy for publishing. This research also suggests the high costs of publishing for content developers and proposes ways for open-source publishers to attract and maintain talent for open-source publishing in socio-technical spaces. This chapter offers fresh insights on the uses of game theory to model stakeholder motivations and payoffs, and from there articulate basic strategies; in line with game theory, this model also suggests directions and hypotheses for future research in open-source academic publishing.

A Model of Cultural Competence in Open Source Systems

Open source software and the open source movement have changed how users access the Internet and produced equality of access for the global community. Despite the access to free software and code sharing for the public and corporate users, open source users remain unaware of cultural competency standards for all its users and designers. The research on cultural competence is conspicuously absent. This chapter defines open source cultural competence as an ethical and equity imperative for open source systems and the communities served by this free, accessible software. A theoretical framework for integrating cultural competence into open source technology is presented, one that emphasizes cultural competency best practices. Future implications for integrating cultural competence into open source technology are highlighted.